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Once again, here is the Guardian’s report on today’s events from my colleague Josh Halliday, who was also present in court.
Updated
Merseyside police have issued a statement from the Senior Investigating Officer of the investigation, detective chief inspector Jason Pye. He said:
Although no outcome at court could possibly ease the pain and trauma of their families, I hope that knowing Rudakubana will now spend a considerable amount of time in prison will bring them some comfort.
His sustained and ruthless attack took away the lives of three beautiful little girls, Bebe, Elsie and Alice, and the thoughts of everyone at Merseyside Police remain with their families. Our thoughts are also with the young girls who suffered serious injuries, and all of those who were traumatised by what they saw on that morning.
He said the attack had also impacted on the community of Southport and “has been felt across the country”.
This was the most harrowing, large-scale investigation that our force has ever dealt with and I want to praise the commitment, dedication, and sheer determination of the investigation team who have never had to deal with anything like this before.
Having committed the most heinous of crimes, Rudakubana then tried at various points of the process to frustrate justice, by remaining silent and resisting co-operation.
That he chose to plead guilty on the first day of trial at least spared the families and all those affected a trial that they had until that moment feared would compound their grief and distress further.
Even today, he had to be removed from the dock after repeated attempts to disrupt the sentencing hearing by shouting as the prosecution tried to lay out the details of his awful crimes.
I am pleased to see that – thanks to the determination of everyone involved in the legal process – all his efforts to frustrate the process were in vain and he has now faced justice for his terrible actions.
He said he wanted to take the opportunity to publicly thank all the first responders who went to the scene that day and were “confronted with unimaginable horrors”.
Officers went into the building to detain the suspect, emergency services tended to the wounded and members of the public bravely assisted with efforts to help those inside. All will no doubt still be affected by what they witnessed for the rest of their lives.
I would also like to thank the investigation team for their steadfast determination to painstakingly go through every piece of evidence recovered in this investigation to make sure we were able to present the CPS with a comprehensive file of evidence to ensure that justice was done for the victims and their families. I think I can speak for the whole team when I say that this is probably the most harrowing case we have collectively worked on and our thoughts for the family have helped to keep us grounded and focussed despite the traumatic nature of what we were all dealing with.
I want to thank counter terrorism policing for their unwavering support and advice and the CPS for their support and guidance to ensure we could get justice for Bebe, Elsie and Alice, the injured girls and adults and those who were traumatised by what they saw in the room that day, but miraculously managed to escape.
He added:
Finally, although Rudakubana has been sentenced to prison today, the pain felt by those families will continue for the rest of their lives and I want to pay tribute to Bebe, Elsie and Alice, who will never be forgotten.
Their families, and those of all the children and adults affected, have behaved with incredible dignity and courage since that dreadful day, and our thoughts are with them today and always.
